4 ms·

Cider instead? WRT leftovers kids like apple juice and slices. Note that residential juicers are often not thermally sized for hour long juice runs so be care

by VLM 12y ago

Cider instead? WRT leftovers kids like apple juice and slices. Note that residential juicers are often not thermally sized for hour long juice runs so be careful and work in batches. You can make this painful by growing your yeast from dry culture for days blah blah or just buy one of those smack bags where you break the inner container and let it boot up. Once you're done, making applejack is just as illegal as operating a still, so just like fight club, don't talk about it. I started off in the 90s making meads (my advice, avoid meads) and wines and the first time I made beer with some buddies I was somewhat stunned by how complicated it is. So I'm just saying if you want a nice fermented drink that's simpler than beer, its hard to find anything more complicated than beer, so ...

pyoung 12y ago
I am curious as to why you recommend avoiding meads? I made a gallon batch (still fermenting though) and it was by far the easiest brew process I have come across. Basically just heat up some water and dump honey in, then transfer to the carboy and add yeast. I think it took all of 20-30 minutes. Scaling up to a 5 gallon batch would add a trivial amount of time. Was it the taste? I tasted it when I transferred to secondary, and it was tolerable (I would compare it to a funky white wine). Or fermentation time (was told that it needs about six months total)? If time ever became a big constraint for me, I imagine I would just cut my brewing down to a few big beers a year (high gravity or other styles that call for long fermentation) which would keep the carboys full, but would also stretch out the time between brews. And then I would try and mix in some meads or all extract brews.
- inscrutablemike 12y ago
  Meads are possibly the easiest thing you can brew yourself, second only to things that start fermenting when you don't want them to. The problem is that straight honey mead is just not all that interesting to drink. It usually does have some of the residual honey character - but who wants to drink a pint of diluted honey? By the time you get around to tweaking recipes that turn out a product most people would like you're either back at the same level of effort or time you'd have to spend making a regular grape wine. I've made a handful of meads so far and I don't think I'm going to do another one unless I have a specific recipe in mind - maybe a metheglyn or a braggot.
  - sitkack 12y ago
    And that it takes 18 months to get good.
  - beala 12y ago
    I disagree. I think there's a lot more to mead than "diluted honey." Varietal honey produces different flavors, not to mention all the variations you can produce by adding juices and spices. It's also one of the few homebrews that can save you money. A good batch of homebrewed beer is often not much cheaper than a good store bought microbrew. Compare this to my local meadery which charges $22 for 750 ml of mead. I can brew 5 gallons (~19,000 ml) of good mead for around $60.
craigching 12y ago
Not really into the Cider, thanks for the suggestion though. I brew beer because I like to drink beer :) I don't find brewing too complicated, just very time consuming, time I no longer have now that I have kids.
HeyLaughingBoy 12y ago
Agreed. I've made many wines, including some from grapes growing wild on my own property. But every time I think about trying to brew beer, I look at all the steps it requires and all the time and just buy a 6-pack of something good instead.
- craigching 12y ago
  In the U.S. it's impossible (at least where I live) to get a beer that is equivalent to something you get in England. What I'm talking about are the "real ales" of England. You get a beer that is 3% to 4%, fresh as hell, served from a hand drawn pump (a cask), kept, yes, a little warmer than you'd expect in the U.S. In Minnesota there is nothing compared to that. Some places will try to have a cask, but it's not the same (they usually use some sort of swirler to fake the real cask ale head). Our beers are just too high alcohol and force carbonated, it just isn't the same. When I visit England, I can drink 4 to 6 of these real ales and just have a mild buzz. Try that with a 7% IPA that you get here, doesn't work. So here's a short list of some of my favorite beers from England. If you get a chance, give them a try! You must have them from a good pub (ask around) and they have to be fresh (they will be at a good pub): Hogsback Traditional English Ale (yes, T.E.A) -- https://www.hogsback.co.uk https://www.hogsback.co.uk Hopback Summer Lightning -- http://www.hopback.co.uk http://www.hopback.co.uk West Berkshire Good Ol' Boy -- http://www.wbbrew.com http://www.wbbrew.com Adnams Southwold Bitter -- http://adnams.co.uk http://adnams.co.uk When I get back into brewing, these are the beers I'm going for ... unless it is indeed possible to "buy a 6-pack of something good instead" ;)
  - michael_h 12y ago
    You can definitely get a 'real ale' in the US. It's a shame you can't get it where you live, though. During the summer, there's a place near me that does 'Mother Firkin Thursdays' with a about 10 experimental ales in firkins, most of them around 4% and at 58 degrees. The rest of the year, they just have a few in casks available for the regulars.

by VLM 12y ago

pyoung 12y ago

I am curious as to why you recommend avoiding meads? I made a gallon batch (still fermenting though) and it was by far the easiest brew process I have come across. Basically just heat up some water and dump honey in, then transfer to the carboy and add yeast. I think it took all of 20-30 minutes. Scaling up to a 5 gallon batch would add a trivial amount of time. Was it the taste? I tasted it when I transferred to secondary, and it was tolerable (I would compare it to a funky white wine). Or fermentation time (was told that it needs about six months total)? If time ever became a big constraint for me, I imagine I would just cut my brewing down to a few big beers a year (high gravity or other styles that call for long fermentation) which would keep the carboys full, but would also stretch out the time between brews. And then I would try and mix in some meads or all extract brews.

inscrutablemike 12y ago
Meads are possibly the easiest thing you can brew yourself, second only to things that start fermenting when you don't want them to. The problem is that straight honey mead is just not all that interesting to drink. It usually does have some of the residual honey character - but who wants to drink a pint of diluted honey? By the time you get around to tweaking recipes that turn out a product most people would like you're either back at the same level of effort or time you'd have to spend making a regular grape wine. I've made a handful of meads so far and I don't think I'm going to do another one unless I have a specific recipe in mind - maybe a metheglyn or a braggot.
- sitkack 12y ago
  And that it takes 18 months to get good.
- beala 12y ago
  I disagree. I think there's a lot more to mead than "diluted honey." Varietal honey produces different flavors, not to mention all the variations you can produce by adding juices and spices. It's also one of the few homebrews that can save you money. A good batch of homebrewed beer is often not much cheaper than a good store bought microbrew. Compare this to my local meadery which charges $22 for 750 ml of mead. I can brew 5 gallons (~19,000 ml) of good mead for around $60.

craigching 12y ago

Not really into the Cider, thanks for the suggestion though. I brew beer because I like to drink beer :) I don't find brewing too complicated, just very time consuming, time I no longer have now that I have kids.

HeyLaughingBoy 12y ago

Agreed. I've made many wines, including some from grapes growing wild on my own property. But every time I think about trying to brew beer, I look at all the steps it requires and all the time and just buy a 6-pack of something good instead.

craigching 12y ago
In the U.S. it's impossible (at least where I live) to get a beer that is equivalent to something you get in England. What I'm talking about are the "real ales" of England. You get a beer that is 3% to 4%, fresh as hell, served from a hand drawn pump (a cask), kept, yes, a little warmer than you'd expect in the U.S. In Minnesota there is nothing compared to that. Some places will try to have a cask, but it's not the same (they usually use some sort of swirler to fake the real cask ale head). Our beers are just too high alcohol and force carbonated, it just isn't the same. When I visit England, I can drink 4 to 6 of these real ales and just have a mild buzz. Try that with a 7% IPA that you get here, doesn't work. So here's a short list of some of my favorite beers from England. If you get a chance, give them a try! You must have them from a good pub (ask around) and they have to be fresh (they will be at a good pub): Hogsback Traditional English Ale (yes, T.E.A) -- https://www.hogsback.co.uk https://www.hogsback.co.uk Hopback Summer Lightning -- http://www.hopback.co.uk http://www.hopback.co.uk West Berkshire Good Ol' Boy -- http://www.wbbrew.com http://www.wbbrew.com Adnams Southwold Bitter -- http://adnams.co.uk http://adnams.co.uk When I get back into brewing, these are the beers I'm going for ... unless it is indeed possible to "buy a 6-pack of something good instead" ;)
- michael_h 12y ago
  You can definitely get a 'real ale' in the US. It's a shame you can't get it where you live, though. During the summer, there's a place near me that does 'Mother Firkin Thursdays' with a about 10 experimental ales in firkins, most of them around 4% and at 58 degrees. The rest of the year, they just have a few in casks available for the regulars.